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The ending to Tomorrow War is like tomorrow itself, it just never comes. Where most films have three acts, The Tomorrow War has four. As fun as it is to spend time with Chris Pratt and Yvonne Strahovski, 2:20 is too much in this universe. The film is about a future war with aliens where people from today are drafted, worldwide, to go fight for a week before being returned home.
Chris Pratt plays Dan Forester, a family man, and veteran of the war in Iraq. He does not have a significant relationship with his father, J.K. Simmons. The film makes sure to let you know his father is J.K. Simmons about 90 minutes earlier than it needs to. It is part of the pattern of the film not being surprising in the way it thinks it is. There are too many callbacks set up that feel forced when they are introduced that you immediately know when they become relevant.
There are plenty of shoot-em-up action sequences with untrained citizen-soldiers taking on good-looking CGI aliens. Want to see rifle flashes in a stairwell, scientific research building, streets of Miami, caves, beaches with wild horses, or the Arctic? Because this film will deliver in that department. Chris Pratt gets plenty of face time and even some shirtless time, so you may enjoy that.
You might be thinking that I did not enjoy this film, but you would be wrong. It is too long. The plot is too predictable. The editing is confusing in what it leaves in and how quickly south Florida weather changes. It tells before it shows all the time. But it also delivers hilarious lines to the point that you will want to rewind and watch that line over again and maybe a third time so your laughter is quieted, and you can hear the next line. I do not think Amazon Studios is releasing this film in theaters and that is fine, it is best when viewed at home. Sometimes a two-diamond film gets a boost because of how you feel watching it and that is what happened here. Critics have panned this film, but audiences are enjoying it. It is objectively a poorly constructed film, but if you don’t take it seriously you will have a good time.